Improvement in turbine wheels



.anni Geistes @sind (nipiit Letters Patent N 104,199, dated J une 14,1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN TURBINE WHEELS.

.The Schedule referred t0 in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame To all whom it mail concern;

thereon making a part of this specification.

Nature and Object of the Invention;

The invention pertains'to that class of vwater-wheels known as turbine,and relates to` providing the interior hollow space iu the center of ascroll with a wheel of proper dimensions, which is closed ou top,-openon the lower side, and provided with concavoconvex buckets, thecurves of which correspond to the curves of the wheel, which operates avertical shaft rigidly secured to `the vertical center' of t-he wheel,the shaft resting upon a foot-block or journal below and properlysecured above the wheel.

The object of the invention is to confine the water in the scrollcasing, so that it acts upon allof the buckets simultaneously.

Description of the Accompanying Drawings.

Figure l is plan view of the invention, with a portion of the top of thewheel W broken out..

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the invention, with a portion of thevertical sides of the scroll broken out, showing the braces B and theshaft S.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the buckets L and wheel YV.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the block F, showing the manner of itsattachment to the rim R.

General Description. A, in the annexed drawings, is the scroll, which receives the water at its mouth, and thence `gratin-- lter, and at suchdistance apart, as to allow the wheel Wto revolve in the space betweenthem, on all sides of which opening is the scrollcasing,.open on thesido adjacent to the wheel, but closed on the other sides.

This casing, beginning at the point b, gradually approaches the verticalsurface of the sweep of 'the wheel W,v until it meets the interiorvertical side of the mouth of the scroll, at which point it isseparatedfrom the exterior face of the buckets L only a suilicient distance toallow. the followers to pass freely.

The scroll is provided ou its horizoutahsides with raised or archedbraces, B, sufiiciently above and below the scroll to allow the wheel Wfree motion, the lower brace being provided with a foot-block, T, tosupport the shaft, the upper brace with a journal in which the shaftturns, both operating to preserve the shaft in' a vertical position.

The wheel W nearly corresponds in diameter to thc circular aperture inthe upper and lower sides of the scroll, its thickness or heightcorresponding exactly with that of the circular parts of the scroll.

The top M of the wheel W is a circular disk, to the center 0f which theshaft S is firmly secured in a vertical position.

At a proper distance below the disk is placed a rim, It, of requisitewidth, and in exterior circumference corresponding to the disk M,between which and the' rim R are placed the buckets L, their upper andlower edges being secured respectively to the disk M and rim R.

These buckets are concavo-convex in shape, their radii being equal tothe radii of the disk, and are so placed as to fill-the space betweenthe disk and rim, the iuteriorwertical edge of one of the buckets Lbeing in the same vertical plane as the. exterior vertical edge of theone immediately in fi'ont of it, the former edge being flush with theinterior periphery of the rim 1t, the latter edge being flush with thecircumference of the disk )I and the exterior periphery of the rim R.

The disk )I is in the same plane as the upper horizontal surface of theadjacent parts of the scroll.

The rim R is similarly located inrelation to the lower horizontalsurface of the adjacent parts of thc scroll.

- The wheel is provided at its exterior cncnmferencc with a sutiicientnumber of blocks, F, to inolose it, which blocks are of a concavo-convexshape, the concavity conforming to the convexity of the wheel to the rimof which they are secured, in such manner as to revolve therewith, andto be screwed up to the wheel as it wears, their ofce being to preventthe escape of water throughrthe space between the exterior circumferenceof the rim and the adjacent parts of the scroll.

-. Operation ofthe lnrention.

Tater being admitted at the mouth a of the scroll or volute A, itimmediately impinges upon the convex faces of the buckets L, over whichit flows, theV waste water escaping through the openings between theconcave and convex faces of the buckets, and thence through theopeuing'in therim iu a reverse directionit-o the rnotion` of the wheel;motion is thus` is diminished in volume by thc waste; but, as the motionof the wheel W carries it forward, as the buckets L completely fill thespace between Ythe disk M and rim Ras thc distance betweenfthe exteriorsurfaces .of Athe buckets L and the scroll A is gradually diminished,and as thc escapo of water through the space between the rim 1t andscroll A is in a great measure prevented, the scroll is almostimmediately filled, and the water presses upon all of the buckets atonce, thuscausing the wheel to revolve, and with it the shaft S, towhich attachments may be made for the purpose of applying the power.

'lhc scroll may be cast in one piece of iron; the

disk M and rim l may be similarly made; the'bnckets should be formed ofwrought or rolled metal.

Claims. What I- claim as my invention, and desire' to secure by LettersPatent, is-- v The water-wheel W, having the concavo-convex buckets L,and provided upon its periphery with the the blocks F, in combinationwith the easing A, substantially as and for the uses andpurposes'described and shown.

\Vitn`esses: MATTHIAS RAPP.

J. FRANLIN REIGART, EDM. F. BROWN.

